Edinburgh University to withdraw Mugabe’s degree.

By Tichaona Sibanda
7 June 2007

The University of Edinburgh has begun a formal process to withdraw the honorary degree awarded to Robert Mugabe. The degree was awarded in 1984 for services to education in Africa.

Ronald Kerr the Press and Public Relations Manager for the University told Newsreel that contrary to media reports, the formal process to withdraw the degree only started on Wednesday following recommendations by a group of three senior professors tasked to look at the issue. The final decision to withdraw the honorary degree was made by the University’s senate committee working on recommendations from the group.

‘The University’s next step would be to write to Mugabe and give him an opportunity to respond before any further action can be taken,’ Kerr said.

A statement released by the University on Wednesday said it had been acutely aware of ongoing developments in Zimbabwe and of recent representations made by the Edinburgh University Students’ Association, with regard to Robert Mugabe’s honorary degree.

‘After examining evidence relating to the situation in Zimbabwe in the early 1980s - evidence which was not available to the University at the time the degree was conferred - the group recommended that the degree should be withdrawn. Having considered the recommendations, the Senate unanimously agreed to accept them, the statement said.

Michael Mlilo, a Gukurahundi torture victim, said Mugabe’s actions during the early 1980’s have come back to haunt him. The Gukurahundi is the name given to the infamous Matebeleland atrocities where an estimated 20 000 people were massacred by the infamous red beret 5 Brigade soldiers.

‘Mugabe thought he was untouchable. This is only the start of a long chain of accusations and charges to follow. The road ahead for him is littered with charges against humanity, stemming from the Gukurahundi era to the Murambatsvina clean up,’ Mlilo said.